OUR SAY: Let's not forget that Clive Palmer did some good

CLIVE Palmer argues the case for his Fairfax legacy on the basis not of big-ticket infrastructure wins, but success at turning back 2014 Abbott Government budge

CLIVE Palmer argues the case for his Fairfax legacy on the basis not of big-ticket infrastructure wins, but success at turning back 2014 Abbott Government budget measures which would have impacted heavily on families in his electorate.

He makes the point without Palmer United Party's early cross bench power, measures that would have removed income support for the working poor and to assist students with their back-to-school needs and to fight off the GP co-payment would have passed into legislation.

Mr Palmer also points to PUP's backing of a range of initiatives to support clean energy innovation and the removal of refugees from detention on Christmas Island and the introduction of Safe Haven Enterprise Visas which have helped those in need in an otherwise punitive environment.

And on those matters he is right, PUP has played a role in tempering the excesses of a government with an agenda at odds with those it was elected to serve.

People who voted for Mr Palmer are often mocked, an attitude that denies what for many was a genuine desire for representation they felt neither Coalition or Labor were capable of offering.

Despite the benefits he ascribes to his term in office, his at times erratic management of Palmer Coolum Resort, failure to deliver on early promises to that staff and his absence from the electorate and electorate office eventually wore thin.

But those who see the end for Clive Frederick Palmer, under-estimate the man.